1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a base plate conveyor for a film adhering apparatus, and more particularly relates to a base plate conveyor which automatically places the base plate in a prescribed position between two processing units.
2. Background
A conventional base plate conveyor having a base plate sideward movement mechanism is used for a film adhering apparatus, a film peeling apparatus or the like.
With the recent introduction of techniques for providing multiple layers on a base plate, the thickness of the base plate and the intricacy of the wiring pattern thereon have increased. An automatic film adhering apparatus which has a base plate conveyor and which adheres a photoresist film to both sides or one side of the base plate has been proposed. Further, an automatic film peeling apparatus which has a base plate conveyor and which peels the cover film of an adhered photoresist film from the base plate has also been proposed. In these apparatus, when the base plate is conveyed to a prescribed position, lower and upper film processing members are synchronously moved up and down from their original positions toward the base plate to perform processing on upper and the lower films on the base plate. In the automatic film adhering apparatus, the processing members are film adhering members such as rollers or the like. In the automatic film peeling apparatus, the processing members are film loosening members.
If the conveyance plane of the base plate conveyor of the automatic film adhering and peeling apparatus is preset to a position 0.5 mm below the center point between the upper and lower film processing members so that the center of thickness of a 1 mm thick base plate, for example, coincides with the center point, the center of the thickness of a base plate of 11 mm in thickness deviates by a distance of 5 mm from the center point. Therefore, a distance between an upper surface of the base plate and an upper processing member such as an upper pressure applying roll of the film adhering apparatus, an upper film peeling pawl of the automatic film peeling apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,836 and an upper vibrating pen of the automatic film peeling apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,737 becomes different from a distance between a lower surface of the base plate and a lower processing member. This presents a problem in that processing of the films on the base plate is not precisely performed under the same conditions for both sides of the base plate. To solve this problem, the position of the base plate conveyor as a whole or the height of the base plate conveyance plane of the conveyor must be adjustable so that the center of thickness of the conveyed base plate can be adjusted to coincide with the center point between the upper and the lower film processing members.
The present invention was made in order to solve this problem. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which automatically positions the center of the base plate to coincide with the center point between the processing units, regardless of the thickness of the base plate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which automatically positions the center of the base plate to coincide with the center point between the upper and the lower film processing units of an automatic film adhering or peeling apparatus when conveying the base plate by a base plate conveyor.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which precisely adheres photoresist films to both sides of a base plate under the same conditions.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus in which an air bubble preventive agent for improving the adherence of the films to the base plate is applied to both sides of the base plate before the films are adhered to the base plate.
The above-mentioned and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent through the examination of the description herein and the drawings attached hereto.